Room in Louisiana Plantation House

Walker Evans

March 1935 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

This haunting photograph of Belle Grove, an antebellum plantation house built by slaves that was located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is apparently the only interior view Evans made on his two-month trip to the South in spring 1935. The room is bereft of life. Wet rot stains the dentils, and graffiti of previous trespassers decorates the once-pristine walls. In a single image, Evans summarized his understanding of the history of classical architecture in the South; grand of design and crafted by true artisans, the Belle Grove plantation was nevertheless built upon an untenable social structure.

Artist

Walker Evans

Date

March 1935

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Purchase, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Gift, 2005